Campbell to acquire US firm Snyder’s-Lance for US $6.2 billion

Campbell Soup (2017 revenue US $8 billion), a top US producer of soups, beverages, snacks and packaged fresh foods, has signed an agreement to purchase Snyder’s-Lance, a leading company in the US snacks market (the transaction is expected to be closed early in the second quarter of 2018).

With an agreed selling price of US $6.2 billion, the acquisition offers considerable growth opportunities for Campbell.

Snyder’s-Lance has posted 4% annual growth over the last three years compared to a CAGR of almost 3% across the snacks sector as a whole during the same period.

The company posted sales of $2.5 billion in 2017 and will enable Campbell to raise its share of turnover in the segment from 31% to 46%.

This is Campbell’s sixth acquisition in the space of five years. In 2012 it bought Bolthouse Farms, in 2013 the organic baby food producer Plum and biscuit maker Kelsen, in 2015 the salsa producer Garden Fresh Gourmet, and most recently in late 2017 the organic broth and soup maker Pacific Foods.